At less than 20 years of age, Danny Benedict's resume already shows a wealth of racing experience. From his early days with the Kawartha Kart Club to a handful of seasons at the controls of a Mini Stock – where he earned the nickname 'The Showstopper', after winning the final feature events ever run at Kawartha Speedway and Mosport's Canadian Tire Motorsport Park oval – the youngster from Orono, Ontario is just a few weeks away from finishing his first season of competition in the NASCAR sanctioned Late Model division at Sunset Speedway.

A recent graduate of the Power Line Technician program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Benedict had been faced with the typical new car issues in his family-owned #54 machine. A solid work ethic and strong supporting cast kept the youngster plugging along and working toward the goal of running competitively against some of the sports most successful and experienced operations.

"It's been a tough season of learning about the new car, but our efforts have finally started to pay off," said the positive-thinking speedster. "The other drivers in the class and the friends we've made over the years have been a big help with set-up information and changes we can make to how the car's been performing."

During most events, the Late Model field at the venue that sits about an hour north of the GTA runs a pair of 35 lap main events. Saturday, September 3rd Danny Benedict kicked-off a new month of action with a 10 place finish after starting 17th in the opening round, but had some issues with the car's handling and performance. In the second tour, he started 3rd and led for nearly half the race distance before taking the checkered flag in 6th, for his best finish of the year.

"The year we ran Sunset with the Mini Stock helped us learn about the track, but now I think we're starting to get the hang of things with what to expect with the Late Model," admitted Benedict, who currently sits just outside the top 10 in series points. "We've been taking steps in the right direction and the team is really looking forward to finishing out our first season with the new ride."